The Adventurer's Guild of Ateil

We passed through the gates and returned to Ateil, then headed for the inn, fighting off the urge to sleep.

I wanted to stop by a bathhouse.

Apparently, bathing culture had spread from the Empire to the Kingdom, and larger cities usually had one if you looked around.

We hadn't been able to use one in Aquarius because of the water shortage…

Orleans had the serf's brand, so taking her to a public bathhouse was too risky.

Better to use the inn's private bath.

We arrived at the inn and paid to have a bath prepared. I went first, then Azu and the others.

Once the grime was off, I collapsed into bed and was out cold.

I must have slept a full day.

I was the last one up. Everyone else was already relaxing in the room.

Elza had prepared some wheat porridge, which I accepted and ate.

Seemed like it'd been cooked in goat's milk. A distinctive flavor, but good.

After finishing the meal, I let out a breath.

I gathered everyone.

"Here's the plan going forward. First, we head to the Adventurer's Guild to check out available quests and labyrinths. If anything looks good, we take it."

"All of us?"

"That's right. Me and Orleans won't be any use in a fight, though."

This part was tricky.

With just the three of them, Azu's party could start tackling higher-difficulty labyrinths.

But this wasn't our home turf, so there wasn't much reason to go out of our way for the hard stuff.

This was a good chance to learn what kinds of labyrinths the Empire had and what the quest landscape looked like.

We all headed to the Adventurer's Guild.

It was a bustling city, and the guild building matched—large, with plenty of people.

Walking inside, "lively" was the most fitting word for what greeted us.

Voices echoed nonstop.

It wasn't so packed that we couldn't move, so first things first—checking the quest board.

I looked over the available postings.

Most were the same kind of thing you'd see back in the Kingdom.

Requests for medicinal herbs, pleas to exterminate monsters near town.

Some caravan escort jobs too.

One posting near the top caught my eye.

It was displayed prominently, clearly meant to stand out.

The job: repel a Fire Dragon.

Apparently a Fire Dragon had taken up residence in a mountain not far from here, and the duke who governed the territory had personally put up the request.

But not a single adventurer so much as glanced at it.

And for good reason.

Dragons were dangerous enough on their own, and a fire-breathing one was that much worse.

We had no desire to fight a Dragon either.

Someday, perhaps. But from what the posting said, it wasn't causing any immediate harm to the city, so if you weren't confident you could win, it was best to stay away.

"Orleans, can you read?"

"No… I can write my own name, but that's about it."

"Hm."

When all you needed from serfs was farm work, there was no need to teach them to read.

"Azu, while Orleans is with us, teach her. Good review for you too."

"Understood."

Azu nodded.

I'd also wanted to check whether there were any quest postings about a runaway serf, but after looking through everything, there was nothing.

Just as Orleans' parents had said, it hadn't become an issue.

From a duke's perspective, ordinary people were little more than pebbles.

He probably didn't even register the existence of a serf's child.

Still, she was technically the duke's property.

It was unlikely we'd ever cross paths with the duke, and given the situation, the risk of exposure was practically nil.

After letting her see enough of the outside world, I'd return her to the estate.

As a side venture during our travels, that was the most I could do.

There was no way for someone like me to change the fate of that estate. No need for it, either.

And in its own way, the place seemed to be functioning well enough.

The labyrinths near Ateil were decent but not exceptional.

Should be safe enough for me and Orleans to tag along.

There were plenty of quests, but nothing especially noteworthy left.

I picked out a low-difficulty quest and had Azu register for it.

What we took on was a cargo delivery job and a monster extermination at the destination.

We had the wagon, so it worked out nicely.

I bought some provisions and loaded them onto the wagon.

I had Orleans help.

How do you buy things at a shop?

How does a money transaction work?

I had her do it all herself.

The shopkeeper probably assumed this was a father's way of teaching his daughter.

They played along with a warm smile.

I wasn't old enough to have a daughter this age, though…

I had her help load the purchased goods too.

Orleans had been doing manual labor at the estate her whole life, so she followed instructions without complaint.

As someone giving orders, I appreciated that, but she'd probably get taken advantage of out in the real world.

I could see why her parents worried about her staying at the estate.

Unable to read, unable to do arithmetic—she'd be an easy mark.

But what had they planned to do once they were outside?

They'd been caught trying to leave the estate with meager savings.

They probably weren't punished for it, for the sake of maintaining order, and were likely back tending the fields right now.

Trying to figure out what constituted happiness here was giving me a headache, so I stopped thinking about it.

Orleans had impressive natural intellect. She remembered nearly everything after being told once, and her comprehension was sharp.

Born into better circumstances, she might have become a scholar.

She picked up basic addition and subtraction almost immediately.

Watching Azu grow a bit anxious about Orleans' rapid progress was amusing from the sidelines, but it'd serve as good motivation.

What I expected from Azu wasn't academic ability, after all.

We moved the wagon out for the quest.

In the opposite direction from the estate.

Orleans was gazing out at the scenery.

… She didn't smile much. Her expressions had been sparse since we first met, but even so, staring out at the world like that, she seemed to be thinking about something.